This introduces a new system for coastal licences which will
include a general licence which is only available in respect of
vessels registered in the Australian General Shipping Register,
whose seafarers must be Australian citizens or hold a permanent
visa or a temporary visa that does not prohibit the seafarer from
performing the work he or she performs on the vessel. Such licences
can be granted for up to 5 years.

The second form of licence which can be obtained is a temporary
licence for a 12 month period. This is not restricted to vessels
registered on the Australian General Shipping Register or the new
Australian International Shipping Register.

Single voyage permits will therefore cease to exist. There is,
however, a third category of licence called an emergency licence,
but what constitutes an "emergency" is yet to be
prescribed in the regulations.

An applicant for a temporary licence is required to give
information in relation to at least 10 voyages which it proposes to
undertake during the 12 month period, as well as the details of the
cargo which it expects to carry. That information is then published
on the website of the Department of
Infrastructure and Transport and holders of a general licence
are then provided with an opportunity to state that they could
carry some or all of that cargo.

In addition, the Shipping Reform (Tax Incentives) Bill and the Tax Laws Amendment (Shipping Reform) Bill provide for
accelerated depreciation and an income tax exemption for Australian
owners or operators of Australian registered eligible vessels on
qualifying shipping income, a refund or tax offset for employers
who employ eligible Australian seafarers and an exemption from
royalty withholding tax for foreign owners of eligible vessels
under a bare boat or demise charter to an Australian operator.

Maritime cases

This case concerned a prosecution for reckless navigation of a
vessel on navigable waters under the Marine Safety Act 1998 (NSW). The facts of the case
were that a petty officer in the Royal Australian Navy took a
number of officer cadets out on a 6.3m rigid hull inflatable boat
with an outboard motor and unguarded propeller after the completion
of fast water insertion exercises that had taken place. It was
described as a "joy ride" and resulted in one officer
cadet falling from the vessel and suffering horrific injuries.

The magistrate dismissed the charges against the petty officer,
which were that he had operated a commercial vessel recklessly and
that he had operated a commercial vessel negligently occasioning
grievous bodily harm. In essence the question on appeal was whether
the prosecution needed to establish more than a possibility of
serious harm resulting from the activity in order to find that
there had been recklessness. Brereton J found that the Magistrate
had been correct "to insist that more than a mere possibility,
but a real or obvious and serious risk of propeller strike was
required" in order to establish recklessness and did not
overturn the acquittal.

Although his Honour found that the Magistrate had adopted an
incorrect test in relation to criminal negligence, he declined to
remit the matter back to the Magistrate.

In this case a subrogated insurer sought to recover over $4
million in respect of damage to a yacht. The yacht was badly
damaged when a crane toppled over whilst it was being discharged at
a port in California. Both at first instance and on appeal, the
court upheld the carrier's entitlement to limit its liability
to $500 under the US Carriage of Goods by Sea Act. Interestingly, a
similar decision was handed down by the Federal Court of Australia
in the case of Chapman Marine Pty Ltd v Wilhelmsen Lines A/S (1999) FCA
178.

In that case Justice Emmett held that the carrier was entitled
to limit its liability to US$500 in relation to a cruiser which was
being transported from the United States to Sydney, where it
arrived in a state which amounted to a constructive total loss. It
had sustained the damage when containers were being moved at the
intermediate Port of Melbourne and the cruiser fell over the side
of the vessel and onto the wharf.

The issue in this case was whether or not a subrogated claim
brought by the workers compensation insurers against the airline
was time barred. The facts giving rise to the claim were that an
employee of Sercel Australia Pty Ltd had been injured whilst on a
flight from Sydney to Houston and had received payments of workers
compensation through his employer's insurers. They now sought a
recovery under
s.151Z(1) of the Workers Compensation Act 1987, but were met with a
defence which relied upon Article 29 of the
Warsaw Convention, which extinguishes rights unless an action
is brought within two years from the aircraft's arrival at its
destination. This claim was brought outside that period.

Allsop P wrote the leading judgment, which was agreed with by
MacFarlan JA and Handley AJA. It was held that
section 37 of the Civil Aviation (Carriers Liability) Act 1959, which
made clear that nothing in the Convention was to be treated as
excluding any liability of a carrier to indemnify an employer of a
passenger in respect of any compensation, was not subject to the
time limitation in Section 34 of the Act or Article 29 of the
Convention.

An interim report concerning the grounding of the "MV
Rena" on Astrolabe Reef on 5 October 2011 was handed down in
March 2012. This interim report does not seek to apportion blame
and contains, for the most part, a summary of the facts that the
investigators have ascertained.

For example, it notes that: the vessel was bound for Tauranga
from Napier; that at 0015 on the day of the grounding the Tauranga
Harbour Control spoke with the vessel when the ship was informed
that its estimated time of arrival of 0300 hours was the end of the
time window for pilotage, and also requested the Rena to make best
speed for the pilot station; and thereafter course alterations were
made which took the vessel closer to Astrolabe Reef.

The report concludes that "The Commission is continuing to
collate and verify information directly related to the grounding
and is also pursuing several lines of enquiry of a wider systemic
nature."

enhanced cruise ship access to Commonwealth-owned Garden Island
infrastructure should be on a full recovery "user-pays"
basis for provided infrastructure and operational costs and
overheads of alternative arrangements for Defence and Navy
ships

enhanced cruise ship access to Garden Island will impact
significantly on local residents

The report considered five options and concluded that it
"would be possible to combine elements from the options
canvassed above to arrive at agreed short-medium and long term
outcomes."

The report also refers to two related enquiries: the Defence Force Posture Review Report, which is due
before the end of June this year and the New South Wales Government
Transport Infrastructure and Tourism Reviews, including the NSW
Visitor Economy Task Force, whose findings are due in May this
year.

The Review noted: "The enduring requirement to maintain a
credible and effective national Defence capability, including
through a highly professional, versatile and well trained,
maintained and equipped Navy, and a highly visible presence in the
Nation's largest recruiting pool, is of paramount
importance". It also noted that: "If the Force Posture
Review's preliminary conclusion about a new Fleet Base facility
comes to pass, then the sensible way ahead would involve option 5
or some variation thereon and adoption of a phased approach drawing
on aspects of the other options".

Option 5 involved the "disposal and transfer of Fleet based
berths 1 to 5 (at Garden Island) to the Sydney Ports Corporation
and a transfer of the navy's amphibious and afloat support
group to new dedicated facilities in a Port other than
Sydney." A "scope and costings study using the Port of
Newcastle as an exemplar" was commissioned by this Review
which estimated a minimum total investment of $1.003 billion for
this option.

An article by Nicole Gooch in the 5 April 2012 edition of
Lloyd's List Australia highlights the need for investment in
further infrastructure to cater for the anticipated continued
growth of the cruise shipping industry. The article refers to a
study of the cruise industry commissioned by Carnival Cruises from
Deloitte Access Economics, The economic contribution of the cruise sector to
Australia, which has identified the significant
contribution made to the national economy by this industry.

Driving a heavy vehicle on an inappropriate route could pose risk to public safety and damage to public infrastructure.

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